The Notebook: Dec. 25, 2011

A New Milford man was recently arrested for breach of peace after he was heard yelling at citizens in downtown New Milford, followed by a bout with a trash can

Frank Douglas Stephens, 50, 4 Bennett St., New Milford, was arrested by police Thursday following an afternoon of alleged disturbances and charged with second-degree breach of peace.

According to police, complaints centered around Stephens who was allegedly yelling at citizens in the downtown business district and when police showed up, they found he was unsteady on his feet and smelled of alcohol. Police urged Stephens to calm down and return home, by the help of a friend, the report read.

Forty minutes after police arrived on scene, they received a second call about a man yelling outside his residence on Bennett Street. Stephens was "kicking, punching and dancing" with a garbage can, police said, which was creating a disturbance in the neighborhood.

The police report said Stephens was again "yelling loudly [and] screaming gibberish" while neighbors stood outside watching the incident.

New Milford police then arrested Stephens under breach of peace. Though he went without incident, police said, he was uncooperative and threatened to "bash" an officer's head against the wall while being processed.

Stephens was assigned a public defender and will appear in court again on Jan. 6.

Curling club destroyed; arson is suspected

Winters are notoriously rough in Norfolk, which has been dubbed the "ice box of Connecticut." So, what do you do during the long, cold winter months when inclement weather and snowy roads threaten to trap you inside?

For the past 57 years the answer for many area residents has been to go down to the Norfolk Curling Club for an afternoon of cool sport and warm festivities.

That activity is going to be severely curtailed this winter following the senseless arson that destroyed the quaint clubhouse built by volunteer labor more than a half-century ago. Norfolk First Selectman Sue Dyer, a member of the club for 43 years, said Tuesday that it is unlikely a new clubhouse will be constructed in time for this year's season.

"It will represent a void in Norfolk, especially this winter," she said. "The unfortunate thing is the timing, happening just before the holidays.

"The board members are meeting next week and the insurance company has been notified, but there are decisions that have to be made."

"I don't think there is enough insurance coverage to rebuild. I don't know where we will go," said Starling Childs, whose parents, the late Ted and Elizabeth Childs, first founded the curling club in the early 1950s. "We have enough insurance to clean up the mess, but then we get to look at a big hole in the ground."

Childs said there are a number of factors to be considered in re-establishing the curling club, among them stricter building codes, the loss of fully depreciated equipment such as the old Torrington Creamery compressor that created the ice; and the destruction of two sets of curling stones that could cost up to $64,000 to replace.

Hopefully the grinch who stole the curling club from Norfolk will be caught soon.

From the mouths of babes ...

A child's honest answer to a police officer put a female purse snatcher in hot water for a crime she allegedly committed in November.

Arrested after allegedly robbing a bank on Dec. 16, a New Milford couple also faces charges for their alleged involvement in a purse snatching just one day before Thanksgiving.

Russell Mace and Erin Mace were each charged with fifth-degree larceny, conspiracy to commit fifth-degree larceny, second-degree breach of peace and two counts of impairing the morals of a child. The arrests came after one of the couple's two children -- who were allegedly with the Maces during the robbery -- reportedly implicated the two New Milford residents.

According to the Hartford Courant, the couple's children, ages 1 and 4, are in the custody of the Department of Children and Families.

The case dates back to a Nov. 23 incident in the parking lot of the New Milford Stop and Shop. Police responded to reports of a robbery at approximately 2:45 p.m. The victim said a person in a black hooded sweatshirt stole her purse, containing two credit cards, sunglasses and approximately $80 in cash.

According to the police report, a witness to the robbery said she saw a white female with dirty blonde hair who "looked strung out on drugs" reach into the victim's shopping cart from a white car, before the car drove away. Using surveillance footage, police later identified the car as belonging to Erin Mace. But the witness did not identify Erin Mace from a photo array.

However, the police report states Erin Mace had changed her appearance since the police's most recent photo. According to police, who interviewed Russell and Erin Mace at their Pumpkin Hill Road apartment later, on Nov. 23, Erin Mace's facial features had changed, and her hair was now brown, instead of blonde.

Police said they had a difficult time interviewing Russell and Erin Mace because the two moved around frantically the entire time and avoided questions. According to the report, police eventually had to separate the two.

"Both Erin and Russell were acting as if Officer Williams and I weren't even there," police said in the report.

Eventually, Russell Mace said the couple was at Stop and Shop at 10 a.m., while Erin Mace said they were at her daughter's Hartford apartment between noon and 7 p.m. Erin Mace's daughter, Kathy Ann Cowles, confirmed the Maces were there, but Russell Mace denied they were there, saying, "We were not there. I don't care if God said so."

New Milford police returned to the Mace family's apartment on Nov. 26, and while Russell and Erin Mace did not answer the door, one of their children did.

Police reported that the child asked, "Are you going to arrest my daddy?"

According to the report, Russell Mace invited the New Milford police officers into the apartment and confirmed Erin Mace's earlier statement that the couple was at Cowles's apartment. However, one of the couple's children again asked police, "Are you going to arrest my daddy?"

The police officer said they would not, but the child continued. "Daddy didn't take the purse, my Mommy did," the police report states that the child said. "She took it right out of the woman's hand."

Police reported that Russell Mace said the child would claim aliens took the purse, and the child responded, "Yeah, my alien Mommy took the purse."

Up to this point, police noted, no one else had mentioned a purse. The police officer, according to the report, asked the child if they were in the car "when the aliens stole the purse."

"Yeah," police said the child said, "She took it right from the fat lady."

While police did not arrest Russell or Erin Mace that night, the report states Erin Mace cried after the officer mentioned the Department of Children and Families possibly getting involved. Police reported that the surveillance footage they requested from Stop and Shop arrived on Nov. 30 and used the footage to identify the car in the robbery as Erin Mace's car.

The wonderful legacy of the Drapers

As a decorated war veteran, the late Colonel James L. Draper, Jr., knew the meaning of service. And when he retired from the U.S. Army, in 1965, Jim and his wife, Shirley, who preceded him in 2000, carried on the tradition by devoting their lives to serving the community they cherished.

Jim's final -- and perhaps grandest -- act of charity came in the form of The Draper Foundation Fund, a $30-million endowment entrusted to The Community Foundation of Northwest Connecticut.

The new fund, which represents the largest single gift in the Foundation's history, will benefit mainly local charitable organizations by making yearly awards to 19 nonprofits named by the Drapers, as well as through annual discretionary grants.

"Jim and Shirley were well-known in Colebrook, and indeed throughout the area, for their love of community," Foundation President Guy Rovezzi said. "This endowment reflects their passion for particular causes -- such as education and the welfare of children and animals -- and will forever serve as a testament to their compassion for others."